A loud bell rang throughout the city. Gabriel and Ciro rushed to see what the commotions were about as well as everyone else. Three northern soldiers and an official sat on horses in the circle that the crowd had made. Ciro glanced at Gabriel gave a nod and disappeared into the growing crowd. The official continued ringing the bell for a few more minutes before finally speaking.

"People of Asra! I am here on behalf of our great leader King Erebus. In my hand is a declaration written by the king." The officer opens the scroll, clears his throat, and begins to read, "Your leader has failed you all. Your kingdom will fall in due time. It is time to decide where your loyalties lie." The officer rolled the scroll back up.

The last bit caused an outcry from the growing crowd. People were getting restless and starting to push forward toward the official and soldiers.

"He can't do this to us," One man yelled from the sea of people.

"My boys won't survive," A lady cried out.

Noah grabbed Theo's arm so they wouldn't be separated by the moving crowd. They had squeezed into the crowd hoping to see what was going on. Ciro stood behind them and grabbed each by a shoulder and pulled them back. He moved with ease through the packed street weaving in and out heading back towards the inn. Gabriel met up with them undercover in one of the shops. He wanted to be angry with them but he couldn't. The yelling started growing as the protest began.

"We need to leave now," Noah said peaking out the window. He couldn't see but the heads of the four on the horses.

"I can get us out of the city and headed south," Ciro answered. "We can worry about where after we're safe."

Theo looked at Noah worry written across his face. "We don't have the supplies we need for that trip and by the looks of it. We aren't getting any here today."

"That's not top priority right now," Gabriel stated sarcastically.

Ciro turned to Gabriel. "We can sneak around the crowd quickly. If anyone gets separated, meet at the stables." They all agreed and started off the store when...

BOOM!

"What the hell was that?" Noah turned back towards the window but it was no use. There were people pushed against the windows blocking most of the sunlight trying to break through.

All four ran out to see what the commotion was. Noah started pushing through the crowd ignoring the protest of his brother and Ciro. He weaved and dodged the constant movement. He finally pushed his way to the shrinking clearing where now a dead soldier lay on the ground with what looked like burns all over. A man in his mid-thirties stood across from the fallen soldier. A small flame danced in his hand.

"Your leader is no king of mine. I will kill every single one of you," The man spoke with a fierceness Noah had never heard before. He raised his hand to throw the fire towards the official. Noah's eyes grew wide at the scene. It seemed to all happen in slow motion. The man raised his hand screaming over the crowd, then all of a sudden a dark figure appeared behind him with a dagger. As quick as a blink, the man fell to the ground holding his throat. The figure had disappeared leaving the man to die quickly as the crimson blood puddled in the street.

Noah couldn't breathe let alone move. He just watched a man die and no one's helping him. He was snapped out of the trance when a pair of hands tightly grabbed his shoulder. It was Gabriel, but his face was hidden by the mask he carried and his hood. Quickly they moved away from the scene and towards the stalls where the horses were being kept. A panic raced through the streets. No one was safe now not even the magic users.

"Now now! Don't you all worry, my mage companion will not harm anyone unless they chose to harm my guards or me," The official yelled out. Those that planned to attack stepped back as they didn't want to be the next victim. "You will find it wise to do as the king declares or there will be grave consequences."

Noah and Ciro had the horses ready. While Gabriel went to find Noah, Theo had time to grab any belongings from their room in the inn. Gabriel led the way out while Ciro followed from the back making sure Theo and Noah stayed safe between them. They walked with their horses away from the center of town and down the opposite paths they had come in. Once away from the commotion they mounted and started off the city. They picked up speed quickly passing building after building which just became giant blurs. Something began to feel off to Gabriel as they traveled closer to the outskirts then he saw it. A hooded figure follows from the rooftops.

"Ciro you see that," Gabriel yelled from the front of the group pointing up.

Ciro immediately realized what was following them and his stomach dropped. "It's a mage," He yelled back.

Gabriel pulled his bow off from around him and pulled out an arrow. He let go of the reign giving full trust to his horse and turned pulling his arrow back against the bowstring. He found his target. As the mage jumped, Gabriel aimed his arrow and let it fly. A cry fell from above them as the mage fell to their death. Gabriel turned back forward placing his bow back around him and picked the reigns up again to race even faster out of the city. That was until another hooded figure appeared right at the entrance of the city. This mage was ready to fight. Gabriel pulled back hard on the reigns to stop his horse in which the others followed.

He looked back at Theo and Noah. His mask reflects in the sun. "You two need to hide now." His voice was muffled a bit but it still rang out with power.

Noah nodded and grabbed Theo and both took their horses and ran to hide. Gabriel turned back to face the mage. He hopped on his horse and pulled off his bow. Charlie stood next to him ready to fight.

"Well well well if it isn't Ciro." The mage pulled off their hood to reveal a beautiful woman. "You know Erebus wouldn't mind adding another God to his collection."

Ciro stood tall and firm. He would be ready for an attack. "Go to hell."

The woman smiled, but it was an evil twisted grin that could make the hairs stand up on anyone's arms. "My sweet child. Where do you think I crawled out of?"

"Guess not even they wanted you." Ciro snapped back. The mage's smile faltered and her face twisted again into a frown.

"I'll kill you and your little masked friend." She pointed to Gabriel. She spoke softly and a ball of electricity formed in her palm. She then threw it Gabriel's way.

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Gabriel dove seconds before and the blast barely missed him. The blast hit a building behind him sending debris every which way. The mage huffed in annoyance and began another spell but this time Ciro had the headway. His eyes turned bright gold as he focused his power. A large molten fireball started to form in between his hands. Once he saw it was large enough he hurled it towards the mage. She jumped to the side but not enough as it graze her right arm. She let out a scream and disappeared. Ciro looked around to see where she would reappear but the street had gone silent. Gabriel, brushed himself off and was now climbing for a higher vantage point since being out in the open wouldn't work against such a powerful spell caster.

Laughing filled the air and Ciro started circling to find the source. The mage had reappeared a few feet behind him with a fireball in hand. "Let's see how you like a taste of your own medicine." And she threw the fireball towards the unprepared Ciro.

The fireball hit him square in the chest knocking him on his back. No harm came to him as he absorbed the power from it. The mage took the chance and started running toward Ciro with a dagger. He had no chance to move or stand before she was on top of him, dagger to throat. "I think Erebus would be pleased with the head of Ciro brought to him. What do you think?" She pressed the dagger harder into his throat drawing blood.

Gabriel saw everything unfold. He quickly placed an arrow on his bowstring and drew back. He only has one chance. All thoughts disappeared as he focused on his target. The mage sat up away from Ciro's face and that was his signal. The arrow whistled through the air toward its target. A loud crack was heard and the mage slumped forward. The arrow struck her head for an instant kill. Charlie pushed the body off as he stood up covered in blood. Gabriel quickly rushed down to make sure everyone was okay.

"Ciro," Gabriel yelled out.

"I'm okay. This is mostly her blood." Ciro pointed out trying to give Gabriel peace of mind.

Gabriel let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He then remembered there were two more with them. "Oh my God where's..."

"We're over here," Theo yelled running over followed by a much slower Noah.

"Are you two..."

"Oh, we're perfectly fine. HOLY SHIT!!! You really are a God." Theo was smiling ear to ear like nothing had happened. "And you Gabriel. I know you said you were an assassin but I dint know you were that good with the bow. Can you teach me how to shoot and how to shoot while riding..."

"How about we save the questions for later." Ciro had interjected trying to calm and excited Theo. He looked at the body and then at Gabriel. "I think we leave a message for dear old Erebus."

Gabriel nodded and helped Ciro lift the body onto Ciro's horse. All four boys after a few minutes of talking and calming nerves mounted their horses and started. This time Ciro was carrying the body of the dead mage. They walked the outer rim of the city to the main entrance. Ciro took some parchment paper and a little bit of ink and quill. He secured the parchment paper on the body and laid the mage on the ground at the entrance for everyone to find.

The paper read.

You call yourself a God, but you are nothing but a coward with a crown. -Ciro

~~~*~~~

Ciro led the others out of the city and they went south. They all had their horses in full sprints away from Asra to try and place as much distance between them and anyone else sent by the king. Gabriel was able to keep pace with Ciro through the thick forest but Theo and Noah were starting to find it difficult to keep up given their lack of riding experience.

Gabriel looked back to see the brothers struggling. He waved at Ciro to slow down and they both waited for the other two to catch up. "Sorry, guys didn't realize we left you two back so far." Gabriel apologized.

Noah nodded and carried on the direction they are going not saying a word to either. Gabriel gave a glance to Theo who just shrugged and fell in line with Ciro and began carrying on with him while Gabriel went to catch up with Noah. He could tell something was wrong with Noah by the look on his face.

"You okay," Gabriel asked trying to get Noah to look at him. Noah sighed just enough for Gabriel to notice.

"Yeah, like I told you before. I wasn't hurt or anything," Noah answered back. He still never looked at Gabriel but instead at his horse's mane.

"Noah," Gabriel said softly causing Noah to look at him, "You want to talk about what happened?" Noah let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding but as he did it felt like a weight lifted off his shoulders. He nodded and Gabriel gave a small smile.

"I don't know where to start." Noah lowered his head trying to hide the embarrassment on his face.

"That's alright. Just take your time," Gabriel answered. It was sincere there was no judgment in his voice. It was nice to be able to talk to someone who had some understanding.

Noah took a deep breath and continued, "I watched a man die today." He looked over at Gabriel who sat there just listening. "I've never seen anything like that happen."

"What happened," Gabriel asked. He had only seen the aftermath of what had occurred.

"The guy was some magic user like I've heard Theo going on about. He had killed one of the soldiers and was going after the office when this hooded figure just appeared out of nowhere and slit the man's throat." Noah had this fear in his eyes like a child who was told a scary story.

Gabriel knew that fear well. He was terrified the first time he watched an innocent man die. This sickening feeling built in his stomach and he thought he would be sick. However, it wasn't the killing or the smell of blood that stuck with Gabriel. It was staring into the lifeless eyes of the poor man.

Noah continued, "I've never seen someone just kill without hesitation like that and the official just sit there like it was normal." He was starting to get worked up, but who wouldn't?

"I've been around long enough to know that some love to kill. They live for it," Gabriel said calmly, "Especially mages. They're a different kind of evil."

"That's what killed the man," Noah answered, "But was the man a mage?"

"Probably a wizard of some kind," Gabriel answered back, "Mages normally don't venture into cities unless they're being used for protection like here. They live in small groups in isolated places or being used as weapons by the north." Gabriel had a flash of a memory. It wasn't much but he could faintly remember chanting and echoes then it was gone.

Noah saw the confusion on Gabriel's face. "You alright?"

Gabriel shook the memory and nodded. "Yeah, I'm good." There was a brief silence between the two. Theo could be heard in the background laughing and carrying on with Ciro. The sense of fear Noah had was slowly slipping away but was being replaced by concern about the new threat that could be following.

"You think those mages will come after us again," Noah asked.

"Well, I know for certain those two back there will not be any time soon." Gabriel gave off a small laugh.

Noah let out a laugh as well at the realization of his statement. "Okay, maybe not those two." He looked at Gabriel again. "You're pretty good with a bow."

Gabriel smiled and was filled with pride. He wasn't much for showing off but he hadn't been complimented in a long time. "Thanks."

Noah became silent again. Gabriel watched Noah carefully. Sheepishly Noah looked over like a little kid asking for a treat. "Do you think you could teach me?" Noah saw Gabriel's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "To shoot. The bow. Could you teach me to shoot your bow?" His face reddened and he bowed his head to hide it.

Gabriel let out a small chuckle at Noah's reaction. "We get out of this God-forsaken hole we're going to then yeah, I'll show you," Gabriel answered. He had a sense of pride grow in him as Noah asked him that. " Maybe we can get you your bow if you're any good." He winked at Noah which caused Noah to laugh again.

Before Noah could continue, Theo came racing up beside him along with Charlie not far behind. "Hey, Noah! Ciro agreed to show me some sword fighting."

"That's excellent." Noah smiled seeing his brother like this. He hadn't seen Theo this happy in a long time. "Maybe we can show those two up. Huh," Noah kind of whispered to Theo but it was still loud enough for Gabriel and Ciro to hear.

Ciro had a mischievous glint in his eye as he glared at Noah. "Oh, is that right?" He looked over at Gabriel who was smirking. "I think we just might have to give them a run for their money."

"I think we just might," Gabriel smirked at Noah who busted out laughing.

Ciro took the lead again. They all carried on with laughter and talks of dueling each other. Theo kept on asking as many questions as he could think of. No one minded though. It was nice to laugh and play in a time that would soon come to an end. So they filled the day with joy instead of silence because one day maybe soon would be filled with darkness. Because war was coming and it would devour the lands like the monster it was.